1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gutter hangers and, in particular, to a gutter hanger having a combined nail guide and support means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gutters for building structures and the like are often trough-like structures formed from sheet metal and mounted by various means to the building. The roofs of such buildings are sloped to direct runoff water into a gutter, which is pitched to carry the water away. Various types of gutters and various means of mounting such gutters to buildings are known in the prior art.
A conventional sheet metal gutter is shaped from a thin sheet of aluminum alloy or galvanized steel into an elongated open trough having various cross sections, such as rectangular or semi-circular. One type of commonly used gutter has an inside, or rear, wall which is positioned adjacent the building and extends generaly upwardly parallel to the building surface to which it is attached. A gutter of this type has a front wall forming the opposite side of the trough. The upper margin of the front wall has a lip formed by various bends in the sheet metal structure. Since the walls of the gutter are fabricated from thin sheet metal, some type of bracing means is generally required for maintaining the front and rear wall in a spaced relationship.
One type of mounting bracket includes a bracing means and an attachment means. An arm extending across the width of a gutter includes a hook at one end for engaging and bracing the lip formed on the upper margin of the gutter front wall. At the other end of the arm is a clip for engaging the upper margin of the gutter rear wall. A nail is driven through the rear clip and the upper margin of the rear wall in order to mount the bracket and gutter to the fascia board of a building. If the fascia board is, for some reason not parallel to the gutter rear wall, the gutter rear wall will not lie against the fascia board. Shims or other means must then be provided.
Conventional gutters of the type discussed hereinabove are often mounted near the upper margins of a building wall immediately below the eaves drip line to catch water flowing from the building roof. Fasteners of various kinds, including special gutter-fastening nails, are driven into suitable parts of the building structure, including fascia boards, rafter ends, and the like. Roof shingles and the lower margin of a roof often extend out over the gutter to guide water flow directly into the gutter trough. It is often difficult to find sufficient space to hammer a nail into the upper margin of a gutter mounting near the edge of a roof. A fully driven nail has its head very near the edges of the overhanging shingles. Oftentimes an additional tool such as a nail driver is required to be used to provide access to nails near the upper margin of a gutter. A nail driver is, for example, a hollow tube containing a nail. The nail is driven with a plunger which fits within the hollow tube. One end of the plunger contacts the nail head and the other end of the plunger is driven with a hammer, or the like.
An alternative prior art means for mounting or hanging a conventional gutter includes using a long spike and a long sleeve. The sleeve is horizontally positioned inside the gutter between the upper margins of the front and rear walls. The long spike is driven through the gutter front wall, through the sleeve, through the gutter rear wall, and into the building structure. The gutter walls are not positively engaged by the sleeve and the spike which is frictionally engaged in the building may eventually be worked loose by various water and ice conditions.